India has dropped to 28th in the CCPI 2027 rankings, marking an 18-position decline over two years.
Despite progress in renewable energy, challenges like coal dependence and grid infrastructure gaps persist.
The report highlights India's need to accelerate its energy transition to meet climate goals and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
India has slipped five places to 28th in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2027, released on Wednesday on the sidelines of the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey.
The country scored 60.85 points, down from 23rd place last year and 10th in the CCPI 2025 edition, marking a decline of 18 positions over two years. However, India retained its overall ‘medium’ performance rating.
Denmark remained the highest-ranked country, followed by Lithuania and Luxembourg, which overtook the United Kingdom and Morocco.
Prepared by Germanwatch and the NewClimate Institute, the annual index assesses the climate performance of 64 countries and the European Union, together responsible for more than 90 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The report gave India a ‘high’ rating for its renewable energy trend, recognising progress in solar and wind power, rooftop installations and electric vehicles.
It also highlighted government measures, including competitive procurement, rooftop solar support and incentives for domestic manufacturing, which have helped expand renewable energy capacity.
By June 2025, non-fossil fuel sources accounted for 50 per cent of India's installed electricity capacity, achieving its 2030 target five years ahead of schedule. However, this includes nuclear power and does not reflect the share of non-fossil sources in actual electricity generation.
India's latest nationally determined contribution (NDC) aims to reduce emissions intensity per unit of GDP by 47 per cent from 2005 levels by 2035, increase non-fossil sources to approximately 60 per cent of installed electricity capacity and create a forest and tree cover carbon sink of 3.5–4 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent.
Despite these advances, the report warned that electricity grids and storage infrastructure were struggling to keep pace with renewable energy expansion.
Citing estimates from energy think tank Ember, it noted that India curtailed 2.3 terawatt-hours of solar electricity generation between late May and December 2025 to maintain grid stability.
The report also highlighted India's continued reliance on coal for electricity generation and its dependence on imported crude oil, natural gas and some coal.
"The net zero target for 2070 provides direction but does not itself specify a comprehensive fossil fuel transition roadmap," it said.
A senior Union environment ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, rejected the assessment.
"We do not agree with the report, and feel that India has been consistently doing well on the climate action front," the official said, citing the early achievement of India's 2030 non-fossil electricity capacity target and rapid renewable energy expansion.
The official added that continued coal use remained India's stated policy and was closely linked to its development priorities.
Nakul Sharma, a climate expert at think tank E3G who contributed to the India assessment, said the country's energy transition was progressing but needed to accelerate.
"The country has made significant progress in expanding non-fossil energy capacity, but the real test is how quickly this translates into greater use of clean energy and enables India to meet its growing energy and development needs with a lower dependence on fossil fuels," he said.
Sharma identified three challenges: narrowing the gap between installed renewable capacity and actual generation, addressing rising per-capita emissions and energy consumption, and translating climate commitments into faster action across the economy.
The CCPI 2027 found that no country performed strongly enough across all categories to receive an overall ‘very high’ rating.
Denmark retained fourth place in the index, with a score of 84.05, making it the highest-ranked country because the top three positions remain vacant.
Among G20 members, the UK was the only country to receive an overall ‘high’ rating, while 10 were classified as ‘very low’.
"The G20 bears particular responsibility for climate mitigation, as its members account for over 75 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions," the report said.
Saudi Arabia (65th), Russia (66th) and the United States (67th) were the lowest-ranked G20 countries, all receiving ‘very low’ ratings.
The European Union climbed one place to 19th, retaining its ‘medium’ rating, while nine individual EU countries were classified as ‘high’ performers.